Summerwood (Monsterhearts 2)

Game Master neonblues

JJ hands over the card.

Greg takes the card, sticks out a slimy black tongue, and licks it. He smacks his lips a bit.

"Vampire. Yep. This guy's definitely a vampire."

Ashton drops his bat and throws up his hands. "F$!$! A vampire? A f+##ing vampire? Vampires are a thing too? I'm gonna go see if the cafeteria has any garlic rolls left," he says, while not actually leaving the room. "But he went back to his family, so why is it affecting Gavin?"

"None of those questions were directed at you, by the way," he says, picking his bat back up and pointing it at 'Greg'.

"Really?! Hey, settle a bet. What happens to a vampire in sunlight?" Please be sparkles please be sparkles please be sparkles

Greg raises his claws in protest. "Hey, bro, I just want my candy bar. Any questions other than what ya already asked, I'm gonna need some more food or somethin'. But no protein bars. They taste like ass."

"Fair enough, Greg. Here, enjoy." JJ gives the candy bar to the imp.

"Anything else you guys want to know, before I release him back home? If you do, somebody's going to have to hit up the vending machine downstairs, or something. I'm tapped out."

JJ theorizes to the room, pacing a little as he talks. "If Fahed's a vampire, he probably fed on Gavin or something. There might be some kind of psychic link or addictive chemical dependency, to keep him coming back..."

Greg speaks between mouthfuls of candy bar. “Well, I’ll tell you this much, since it falls under the whole ‘why someone might be hung up’ thing. There’s different types of vamps, but I don’t think this guy’s exactly addictive in the traditional sense. People can react to gettin’ bit in all sortsa different ways. Sometime it’s, like, whatchacallit... euphoric. And humans can technically get addicted to just about anything. One of their biggest weaknesses, really.” He polishes off the bar. “Mmm. Could really go for another one of those right about now. Anyways, your buddy might not be hung up this particular vamp. Could be he’s just lookin’ to get bit again.”

"Maybe that's the research he's doing? Trying to find another vampire to bite him," says Ashton. "Well, there isn't really anything we can do for an addict except help him ride it out. And if he's searching for vampires, that doesn't really effect us, unless one of you has a secret you'd like to share right now. And if you are, let me go ahead and say: I had seven of those garlic rolls at lunch."

"I'm pretty sure I'm not a vampire," Deirdre says confidently. "I look at myself in the mirror all the time!"

Eva had remained silent throughout the conversation and the subsequent summoning of the demon, carefully studying how each of the group reacted to the strange creature's appearance and revelations, but not feeling that there was anything she could add to the question of Gavin's behaviour.

" I am not a vampire either." she says after Deirdre. "I'm quite sure I would be aware of it if I were. Perhaps we should go and ask Gavin what he's researching? We could offer to help."

Hayden goes very still for a moment when Deirdre mentions the mirror, but the next moment she's back to joking, though she quickly takes a more sober tone. [b]"I don't bite people nearly often enough to be a vamp. But if Gavin's doing something like going around looking for vampires to bite him, I mean he's gonna get killed, right? If we can stop that... we should, right?"

"What could we even do, though? Stage an intervention? We don't know anything about vampires other than the fact that they exist."

The imp crosses his arms impatiently. "So, uh, do I gotta be here for this, or was there somethin' else yous guys wanted?"

"No, Greg, I think we're good. Thanks for the assistance. Unless anyone has any other ideas of things to ask?"

If nobody else objects, JJ will send Greg back to wherever he came from.

"Okay, here's what I'm thinking. We don't actually know Gavin. I don't know how we'd even get in touch with him. But--I do want to know what's going on with Summerwood and it's looking like he's kind of at the center of it. And hell, vampires, who wouldn't want to run into some vampires?" he says with a little bit of a grin. "But I've got to say--we'll be going into this blind. Nobody should try to be Buffy or Blade, understand? We don't know anything about vampires, even assuming that Greg was being one hundred percent on the up and up with us. We don't stake anybody until we know what's going on."

He glances down at the bat he's holding and his smile vanishes. "And I know this is ironic coming from me but in my defense we have met a demon and it was legitimately bad."

"Not that I'm looking, but you're saying no to the killing, not to the Montagues & Capulets love story between vampire hunter and vampire, right?"

"Hey, do what you gotta do. I'm not gonna be messing with anybody's game here. If the vampire's played by Salma Hayek or something we can both make a go for it."

Hayden leans down to whisper in Deirde's ear, "Just a heads up: Immortal Salma Hayek is actually on my list. Probably she won't be there though."

"Oh! Mine too, now that you mention it," Deirdre whispers back to Hayden.

"So does anybody have any ideas of where we should start?"

"Well, I figure Gavin's gotta have an in or two to some Eyes Wide Shut style places. If you're looking for a place to let your food come to you, that sounds like it'd be the way to do it.

"So... Anyone know about any secret organizations ripe for blackmail?"

"The NCAA, maybe?"

You do all recall the rumors about some sort of secret society somewhere on campus, though it's unknown whether or not Gavin has a connection there (it is a secret, after all).

Peer into the Abyss: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (4, 5) + 1 = 10

"You know... I actually might know someone who's into that kinda stuff... Totally platonically of course."

Hayden: A flash of inspiration hits you. You're acquainted with an eccentric fellow student named Bonnie who has made a hobby of collecting the various rumors and conspiracy theories surrounding Summerwood. If anyone has a lead on possible vampire nests in the area, it's probably her. She lives in one of the nearby dormitories. You're also aware she has a bit of a crush on you.

"Any of you guys know Bonnie? She's great, better than the campus blotter for 'What the f&+@ did someone do?!' stories. Especially about the weird stuff."

"I should probably butch up before I visit though... lessee, Ash, Jayj you're both giants, but do you know anyone whose uniform I could borrow who's a little more my size? Or do you have a jersey I could make some improvements to?"

"We don't have any elves on the team. But I guess you can borrow one of mine," says Ashton.

"Great. Permission makes it much easier."

Hayden heads straight to his door and starts fiddling with the lock. "You didn't reinforce this with anything right? 'Cause the pre-installed dorm-locks are just-" **click** "-crap."

A short while later she re-emerged with a jersey, shaking her head. "You guys have to air that place out more, get some potpourri - something! So much dude-smell! Now, since for some reason I didn't see a pair of cloth-shears in there, I've gotta take a moment to get this nice and ready. Dee? Wanna help?"

Sh!#... JJ thinks to himself. He feels that soul-sucking urge to fulfill Malphas's wishes, and fights the urge to lunge for Deirdre's wrist, instead eyeing the jewelry from the corner of his vision. At least the task with Xavier was more abstract, but this... JJ winces for a moment.

"Sure thing," Deirdre says, moving to help Hayden with her outfit. "I don't want to sound like the jealous girlfriend type, but you're sure this thing with Bonnie is totally platonic? Does she know that?"

Hayden shrugged in the middle of a blizzard of clothes. "I mean, we're not doing anything now," her plain boyshorts swapped for a pair of bright pink boxer-briefs, "and she never made a move before," several pairs of pants and shorts were attempted and discarded before Hayden settled on a pair of track pants that sat verry low on her hips, "But like, are you asking if she's ever thought about it?" Her navel stayed bare, but she added a couple of barbells to her ensemble before tugging on a plain white undershirt to nearly conceal them, leaving a band of tawny skin exposed before a flash of hot pink concealed the rest, "or if there are moments she feverishly replays in her mind before she goes to sleep?" She loosely tossed on Ashton's team jacket before finishing matters with a baseball cap, a pair of hightops, and one last piercing, a thin gold ring through her nostril.

"Well, her roommate might know that one if they've had an awkward conversation or two, but she hasn't screamed or moaned anything I've heard. Now, come help me look in the mirror and tell me how cute I look, and I'll make sure to show you a Socratic time later so we can really drill down on the difference. Socrates was the one with the crazy stamina, right? Him or Aristotle."

Deirdre helps Hayden out but still looks like she doesn't quite approve of this plan. "Alright, you can go, but promise me you won't let her do anything intimate with you."

Spend 1 String to tempt Hayden into agreeing. She gets 1 XP if she does.

"C'mon Dee. A hug hello can be intimate. I mean do you want me to walk in there all handcuffed and helpless?" Hayden gives a wicked grin, "Only in terms of my negotiating options of course."

"Now, I can't make any promises about who might or might not get seduced by the wonder that's all o' this, but I promise she won't get her hands on the goods." She ran her fingers through Deirdre's hair, before gently tilting her head back for a kiss. "Don't worry, Dee. I won't do anything that means I can't come back to you." She pulled back just a hair's breath to look in Deirdre's eyes. "Okay?"

Deirdre enjoys the kiss. She smiles back at Hayden. "Okay."

"Okay, I got my kiss for good luck. Now time to see if Bonnie still finds nipple-piercings distracting. Platonically distracting."

Ashton sticks his head into their dormroom and sniffs. "Smells fine to me," he says with a shrug of his shoulders.

While Hayden plots her seduction, Ashton decides to see if he can figure out any connection he might have with Gavin. Lacrosse and soccer are pretty different, but they're both second tier sports, so who knows? Maybe he knows a guy who knows a guy. He tries to think if anybody on the team might have a connection or if there is someone involved in the athletics department he might look into.

Gaze Into the Abyss: 2d6 - 1 ⇒ (6, 4) - 1 = 9

Ashton: It's a bit of a long shot, but one of your soccer teammates, Victor, is a sports nut who's also been known to hang out with some of Summerwood's upper crust. He might know something about Gavin.

Ready for the Bonnie establishing scene when you are, GM :-)

Deirdre knows she should be more upset, but she just can't bring herself to be mad at Hayden. She's a free spirit. That's the reason Deirdre finds her so enthralling in the first place. She'll do what she has to with Bonnie, then she'll come back to Deirdre.

She'll come back.

Of course she will.

Excuses are My Armour, gain 1 XP.

Not entirely sure if Hayden's in with Bonnie will lead them anywhere, Ashton decides to pursue his only lead. Victor was a soccer player but he had a knack for moving through all sorts of social circles--if anybody Ashton knew might know Gavin, it's gonna be Victor. So he shoots him a text, hoping that he might get a lead.

Ashton: Hey, were you at Gavin's party last night?

Ashton:

Technically it was two nights ago but I know what you mean :)

You receive a reply back fairly quickly.
Victor: Yeah, for a while. Don't know the guy that well but he throws a great rager.

----

Hayden:

You head over to Bonnie's dorm room. When you knock, the door opens and a bespectacled face framed by frizzy hair peeks out. "Oh!" The door opens the rest of the way and Bonnie smiles widely at you. "Hayden! What brings you here? You weren't followed, were you?" She giggles nervously. "Haha, just kidding. But were you though?"

---

Everyone still in the dorm lounge:

Deirdre's pencil rises again and writes on the piece of scratch paper.
THAT IMP WASN'T SO SCARY. MAYBE YOU GUYS CAN HELP ME FIND MORE MAGIC BOOKS SOMETIME?

Well, that was easy enough. Now to figure out how to steer this conversation without coming off too obvious.

Ashton: Same. Pretty wild. Didn't get to meet Gavin though. Always like to meet the host when I'm crashing a party. What about you?

"We could," says Ashton. "No clue where we'd start, but yeah. Any ideas about figuring stuff out with Gavin?"

Victor: We've hung out a couple times. He really seems to get around, I hear he's with a different guy every night.

Xavier writes:
YOU KNOW, IF YOU TAKE ME BACK TO MY HIS HOUSE I COULD SPY ON HIM. I GUESS I'VE ALREADY DONE THAT FOR A WHILE. TECHNICALLY.

"We'll need a good excuse to get back into Gavin's house," Deirdre says, still marveling at how Xavier makes the pencil move without touching it. She looks up at JJ. "Unless you have a spell that could turn us invisible?"

Xavier writes:
I THINK IF YOU JUST BROUGHT THE OUIJA BOARD CLOSE ENOUGH TO THE HOUSE I COULD GET INSIDE ON MY OWN. NOT SURE EXACTLY WHAT THE RANGE IS BUT THE BOARD IS BACK IN YOUR ROOM NOW SO...

"It's worth a shot. Ashton, JJ, you guys coming with me?"

Sorry, wasn't getting notifications! :-/

"Hey Bonn! Nah, a cute boy was giving me eyes for a bit, but as long as I don't shake my tail, I don't pick up too many new ones. Can I come in?"

Hayden:

"Sure, sure, come on in!" Bonnie lets you in excitedly. Her side of the dorm room is decorated with an eclectic mix of astronomical diagrams, anime artwork, and quotes from famous philosophers. The most impressive part of her space is her cobbled-together but expensive-looking computer rig, which is equipped with several monitors. Her roommate doesn't seem to be in right now.

Bonnie plops on to her bed. "So! What's up?"

Hayden drapes herself awkwardly along Bonnie's chair and fiddles with the brim of her cap. "I've got a good one for you today, Bonn. Vampires.
Or at least richboys who like to kink up a little neck sucking. Heard anything about that?"